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The former Australian coach Bob Simpson should change with the times and understand the role of the modern-day coach, according to John Buchanan. Simpson, 70, who was inducted into Cricket Australia’s Hall of Fame on Monday, has criticised contemporary coaches’ methods and said they should spend less time behind the laptop analysing statistics and more time developing players’ ability.Simpson was appointed Australia’s first full-time coach two decades ago and his ability to transform a struggling cricket nation to a World-Cup winning side within a couple of years was credited as the start of Australia’s resurgence as a power. Although a fan of using video analysis for reviewing players’ techniques, Simpson questioned the effectiveness of computer analysis.”We’ve got all the computers and we’ve got everything like that and you’d think that you’d get your fielding positions perfect wouldn’t you?,” Simpson said. “You should know where the ball is. Why do we have two men behind square leg? Why do we have no one at third man for so long when something like 25-30% of all runs are scored at third man?”But Buchanan, a former university lecturer who guided Australia to a successful World Cup defence in 2003 and kept the side on top of the Test rankings, hit back at Simpson’s criticism.”I think sometimes people make comments out of ignorance,” Buchanan told AAP. “I really just think people don’t understand what the role of the coach is now. It’s evolving with new technology. It doesn’t mean what was done before was wrong.”For those people who choose to criticise they should spend some time with the team and try to come to terms with what’s required.” Buchanan, 52, said the Australian Cricket Board (now Cricket Australia) desperately needed a mentor to put Allan Border’s young side “back on the right path” in the mid-1980s. “They found in Bobby Simpson the right person to do that,” he said. “He was Australia’s first coach and basically got Australian cricket back on track and I think that was a major achievement. He should be praised because he established the role.”

Look Sir Curtly Ambrose in the eye (you may need a ladder) and tell him the West Indies have no hope of beating Australia.Tell him this first Test in Hobart will be over in two days – three, if Jason Holder’s men are lucky – and that more humiliation will follow in Melbourne and Sydney.Tell him that David Warner and Steve Smith will feast on a modest bowling attack and that Australia’s greenest bowling line-up in years will embarrass the West Indies batsmen.Tell him any of this and you’ll be on the wrong end of the fearsome glare that terrorised many a champion batsman throughout his celebrated career as one of the game’s very best fast bowlers.”You as reporters have got to report what you see,” Ambrose said. “So I’ve learned over the years to, I won’t say ignore, but know what to take from the reports and what not to take. But we’re going to be focused. We’re not going to worry about what has been said about us not being a good team or not going to compete … At the end of the day when we perform and beat Australia, then the reporters will have to change their tune.”We played against Australia not so long ago in the Caribbean and even though we lost 2-0 there were moments or periods when we had them on the back foot and had their backs against the wall. And we never really finished them off. So we believe we can compete and not only compete but we believe we can beat them and that’s our focus to beat Australia. Not just to compete but to win and, being the underdogs, sometimes it’s good to be that way.”We have nothing to lose. As far as I’m concerned the Australians are the ones under pressure. They have to beat us because Australians and cricket in general expect them to steamroll us. So they’re the ones who are under pressure, not us. And we’re going to put up a good show.”They are fighting words and there are few who can deliver them with as much conviction as Ambrose, the giant quick who generally let the ball – and his eyes – do the talking on the field.It’s two decades since Ambrose and Steve Waugh conducted one the most famous stare-offs in cricket’s history, the flint-eyed Australian stoic in the face of a blistering spell from Ambrose in Trinidad during the third Test in the 1995 battle for the Frank Worrell Trophy.20 years may have passed since his man-of-the-match performance, but Ambrose’s gaze has lost none of its intensity. And now, as West Indies’ bowling consultant, he wants to use the predictions of impending doom to fire up his charges after an insipid showing in the tour match in Brisbane.”Well first of all we’re not going to be distracted by those comments,” said Ambrose. “We’re here to do a job and we’re going to make a good job of it.”Being here alone should be more than enough motivation for the players but having heard or read those comments should be added motivation for them to prove the critics [wrong], if you will. We are not really distracted. We’re focused and in light of what happened in the warm up game, we are confident that we can put up a good show against Australia.”On its own, the West Indies’ 10-wicket loss to an inexperienced Cricket Australia XI side ahead of the series was a heavy blow. That they avoided an innings defeat thanks only to a stubborn partnership between Holder and Kemar Roach has given former players and current commentators ample fodder to question how the West Indies could take any confidence into the first Test. However, Ambrose pointed to frank discussions in the wake of the match as a potential turning point for the tourists.”We had a meeting, we had a talk about it,” Ambrose said. “And I explained to the guys in no uncertain terms that that’s unacceptable and if we’re going to struggle against an Under-19 team how do we expect to compete against a strong Australian line-up?”But we had a good meeting. Coach Phil Simmons called a meeting and we talked about a lot of things and I expect that, going forward, what’s gone already cannot be changed. So we’ve got to stay focused and move forward. I believe strongly that we’re going to put up a better show against Australia.”Ambrose took up his consultancy role in February 2014 and admits it took time for his charges to “bind” to his concept for their approach to bowling. His status alone ensured the players listened – “Well, I am bigger than most of them so they have to,” he joked – and, while their lack of patience was initially the biggest stumbling block, Ambrose has witnessed an improvement in the control and consistency he believes is necessary to succeed in Australian conditions.West Indies will look to Jerome Taylor, whom Ambrose dubs “the leader of the pack”, to replicate his best spells from the second Test of Australia’s 2-0 series victory in the Caribbean earlier this year. Taylor’s impressive first-innings haul of 6 for 47 off 25 overs in Kingston offered a spark of hope for renewal in his side’s heavy defeat and Ambrose is confident a Taylor-led attack has the ammunition to take 20 wickets, particularly if they can account for Warner and Smith.”Of course they are in some good form at the moment,” said Ambrose. “They are two good batsmen as well, they are going to be key. If you can get them out pretty early for not too many runs and get into the middle as quick as possible, I believe the middle order for Australia is not that solid at the moment.”Once we get them out early that is going to give us some leeway to get into the middle and really test them.”Ambrose isn’t the only member of the 1995 side that defeated Australia in Port of Spain – but, ultimately, lost the series – trying to inspire the current crop of players. Richie Richardson, Courtney Walsh and Stuart Williams all have roles within the West Indies set-up.But whether or not their defiant words can inspire a Test side ranked above only Zimbabwe and Bangladesh to victory over Australia remains to be seen. It will certainly take more than a withering glare. If West Indies manage to pull off an unexpected victory, they will need all the self-belief and passion of their predecessors.”I’m going to do whatever I can, and the coaching staff of course, to put up a good show here,” said Ambrose. “And I believe, once the guys are focused, we’re going to do well.”We’re going to do much better than you think.”

First of many
The opening success of a Test career that had been tipped a decade earlier came in Mitchell Johnson’s eighth over. Dennis Lillee discovered Johnson’s promise when the bowler was a teenager and after a bumpy journey he made it to the big time, picking up Thilan Samaraweera and Marvan Atapattu in Sri Lanka’s first innings. Johnson was mobbed by his team-mates after the first breakthrough. He did manage a small wave and fist clench to his girlfriend after escaping the throng.Sanath strikes
Sanath Jayasuriya was unlucky in the first innings and he quickly aimed his frustration at Brett Lee when Sri Lanka batted for a second time. A pulled six was followed by a flick to midwicket and a slash over slips earned a third breath-taking boundary in three balls. His late-afternoon attack of 39 from 49 balls provided entertainment and brief hope.Successful intervention
Governments are always attacked for ridiculous decisions so some praise is due for Gamini Lokuge, the Sri Lankan sports minister, who insisted Marvan Atapattu tour Australia. Without Atapattu’s gumption the tourists’ first innings would have fallen before tea and his 51 off 183 balls showed it was possible to hold off the Australians.Spills and MacGill
Adam Gilchrist had a chance to take catches for the first five dismissals when Chamara Silva cut an edge off Stuart MacGill. The ball rebounded from Gilchrist’s gloves and MacGill’s push to 200 wickets was delayed further when Michael Clarke spilled another Silva offering while lunging at square leg. MacGill performed well without reward until he bowled Chaminda Vaas, but still needs another wicket to reach the milestone.Sticking your neck out
A dive to beat an Andrew Symonds throw became a pain in the neck for Prasanna Jayawardene. The physio Tommy Simsek sprinted out to administer treatment immediately and at the following drinks break, but while Jayawardene was hurting it didn’t affect his batting. He battled to a gusty 37 before being lbw to Lee.Umpire or bowler
If Lee’s post-bowling career had not already been mapped out for Bollywood he might have been applying for an umpiring job when he had Prasanna Jayawardene lbw. Lee, who was in trouble last year for not appealing to the officials, turned to Rudi Koertzen as he screamed and they raised their fingers in unison.

Three hundred and five runs ahead, eight wickets in hand and two days to go: not many avenues remain to go down in this Test. Pakistan have been outdone by South Africa on just about every front in Lahore and on the third day at the Gaddafi Stadium, the only question that really remains is whether Pakistan can save this Test.Paul Harris has done a little more than most to steer the match and series towards South Africa’s direction and he can’t quite believe his luck at the wickets he has been handed. Speaking a day after another impressive bowling performance from the visitors, he was in no doubt about the balance. “We’re very confident about this Test,” he said. “The pitch is really up and down now, there’s more turn and more rough as well. Chasing any target will not be an easy feat on this track.”Given the likely size of the eventual target, the pitch might not matter as much as the psychological pressure of saving the game. “You’d have to ask the captain about the likely target,” Harris said. If it were up to him, he added, it wouldn’t be anything under 500.That would still be over 200 more than anything Pakistan have reached in this series. Salman Butt was part of a quick start yesterday that saw Pakistan reach 90 in the 21st over, but was adamant in defending the decision to attack.”We needed to score fast to win this Test,” he said. “That was the only way we were going to do it, to get a lead and put pressure on them. We just didn’t capitalise on that start.”Though he felt Pakistan were capable of saving the Test, he acknowledged the performance had been poor, possibly a result of playing too much Twenty20. “To be fair, the Test has been in their hands. The overall team performance has not been satisfactory because we’ve been playing Twenty20 cricket and prior to that we played a limited-over series against Sri Lanka. The guys were coming back to Test cricket after a long time.”Surprisingly, perhaps, given just how much Pakistan have been dominated, Butt chose to criticise umpiring decisions as one of the reasons for the situation. “There have been a few decisions where I feel we were unlucky. I think [Mohammad] Yousuf was not out yesterday and when you get one such decision against your premier batsman it does affect you.”A recurrence of an elbow injury to Mohammad Asif compounded a miserable day for Pakistan. Already burdened with a light, unbalanced attack, Asif left the field after bowling only four overs leaving Pakistan with three frontline bowlers, two of whom are spinners.”We’re missing Asif now, but the plan was to prepare spinning wickets,” Butt said. “Maybe our spinners didn’t bowl to expectations. South Africa have played them well, but we have had fielding lapses as well. On the whole, we haven’t performed well as a team.”

Points Tables

North Conference

Scotland couldn’t follow up their impressive 10-run win over Lancashire yesterday, falling to a five-wicket defeat against Durham at Chester-le-Street. Scotland were reduced to 64 for 5, Graham Onions and Ottis Gibson the chief beneficiaries. Holding the fort was Australian George Bailey whose slick 92 from 105 balls at least pushed Scotland passed the 200. Durham set off in pursuit of 206 in bullish style with Gareth Breese cracking 44. But it was Will Smith’s 62 which powered their chase as they were home in the 44th overNottinghamshire plundered 170 off 13 overs to set up a 50-run win over Derbyshire at Trent Bridge. David Hussey crashed seven sixes in a 20-ball 56 while Bilal Shafayat and Samit Patel added rapid thirties. Derbyshire slumped to 9 for 4 at the beginning of their chase and never made an impression on the target.Leicestershire suffered their second washout in two days when their match against Lancashire was called off in early afternoon.There was no play at Edgbaston between Warwickshire and Yorkshire.

South Conference

Mark Butcher’s unbeaten 72 led Surrey to a nervy three-wicket win with two overs remaining against Glamorgan, in a match reduced to 39 overs per side, at Cresselly, a village with just 13 houses. His stand of 81 with Jon Batty took Surrey most of the way towards their target of 204 but they suffered a late wobble against Alex Wharf. Glamorgan were not helped by the loss of Damien Wright, the Tasmania seam bowler, after two balls and David Hemp was left to trying to fill the hole. Jimmy Maher anchored Glamorgan’s 203 with a 103-ball 76 after an early slump to 35 for 3.Marcus North and Alex Gidman starred with bat and ball for Gloucestershire who beat Essex by 22 runs in a 33-over game at Bristol. North struck a slick 55 from 61 balls while wickets tumbled at the other end to Ryan ten Doeschate’s medium pace. But it was Gidman who injected urgency into Essex’s innings with a brutal 65 from just 46 deliveries, smacking four sixes in Gloucestershire’s imposing 222. Essex’s chase began impressively – Ronnie Irani showing typical aggression in his 41-ball 60 while Varun Chopra added 51. But a middle-order collapse saw Essex collapse from 151 for 2 to 158 for 6, North picking up the key wicket of ten Doeschate – who earlier bagged 5 for 50 – and stifling Essex’s momentum.Ireland suffered their second washout in two days with no play possible against Sussex

Openers Ruvindu Gunasekera and Terryn Fray stroked centuries of contrasting styles and offspinner Pratik Patel captured a remarkable 7 for 3 as Canada and Bermuda maintained their winning streak in the five-team round-robin Americas Under-19 World Cup qualifier in Toronto.Gunasekera hit a 107-ball 155, punctuated with 25 boundaries, and Patel recorded figures of 5-2-3-7 to play pivotal roles in Canada’s 343-run victory over the Bahamas. Fray scored a watchful 144-ball 119, which included six boundaries to inspire Bermuda to a 230-run win over Argentina.It was Bermuda’s third successive victory while for Canada it was their second from as many games. As things are shaping up in this event, it appears that the winner of the Bermuda and Canada match on Saturday will decide who joins the ICC’s 10 Full Members, hosts Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Ireland at the 16-team U-19 World Cup in Malaysia next February.In the Canada-Bahamas match, Gunasekara was in a punishing mood as he completely dominated an inexperienced Bahamas bowling attack by making the ball disappear to different parts of the ground at regular intervals. His stroke selection was immaculate as he successfully pierced the field to score most of his runs in boundaries.Gunasekara was involved in a 182-run fourth-wicket partnership with Pratik Patel to lay the platform for a huge score of 423 in 49.4 overs after Canada, put into bat, were reduced to 92 for 3. Patel scored 75 from 68 balls with three fours and a six.

Kevin James provided further impetus to Canada’s run riot as he struck nine boundaries in his 30-ball 57. Hasan Raza Zaidi (33) and Rustum Bhatti (28) also scored at more than a run-a-ball to make sure the Bahamas were batted out of the match.Bahamas, in their chase, made a positive start when they reached 70 without loss but the introduction of offspinner Pratik Patel sent them crashing for 80. Patel returned his outstanding figures, but couldn’t beat Gunasekara to the Man-of-the-Match award.Elsewhere, Terryn Fray batted with concentration and application to propel Bermuda to 326 for 6 in 50 overs. He featured in two fruitful partnerships. For the third wicket, he added 76 runs with Malachi Jones who contributed a 24-ball 44 with six fours and two sixes then added 69 for the fourth with Marcio Bassett (26).Argentina were bowled out for 96 with only Pedro Bruno (29) and Horacio Esperon (13) reaching double figures. For Bermuda, the seam-bowling duo of Stefan Kelly (4 for 26) and Greg Maybury (4 for 19) shared the honours. After Thursday’s rest day, Canada meet Cayman Islands and Argentina face Bahamas on Friday.

Nicky Boje, who announced his retirement from international cricketearlier in the week, has slammed South Africa’s selection policies, andexpressed fears that there could be something of an exodus once the WorldCup squad is named early in 2007.”Enough is enough,” he said in an interview with , anAfrikaans Sunday paper. “I’m fed up with reading in newspapers and hearingon a daily basis that I am not good enough, that I am not Warne or Murali.They are good, but take them out of the picture and see what world cricketis left with.”Boje was named in the Test squad for the series against India, but it’sthought that comments made by Haroon Lorgat, convener of the selectionpanel, triggered his decision to retire. “The time comes when you have toask yourself where you are going and where your loyalties lie,” said Boje.”And mine are not with the Proteas anymore. The last straw was Lorgat’scomment that apart from our spinners, our bowling attack is on par withAustralia. There was a long build-up to my retirement, but it was still adifficult decision as I feel I still have a lot to offer the country.”Boje’s relationship with Graeme Smith, captain since 2003, has frequentlybeen an uneasy one, and it was noted in many quarters that he communicatedhis decision to retire to Tony Irish, of the players’ union, and GeraldMajola, Cricket South Africa’s chief executive. Lorgat and Mickey Arthur,the coach, were not initially informed. “Haroon did try to phone me,” saysBoje, “but unfortunately I missed the call.”Lorgat’s unflattering comments about South African slow bowlers had comeafter a shock recall for Paul Adams, and Boje admitted that it was adecision that did little for the morale of other spinners in the country.”We have got spinners that can do a good job for SA,” he said. “ClaudeHenderson, Con de Lange, Paul Harris and Johan Botha have got thepotential to do well. Thandi Tshabalala is still young, but with the rightleadership, he can become a factor. He just needs to know he’s got theselectors’ backing.”It’s funny that they say we don’t have spinners of quality in thecountry, but yet the spinners are the leading wicket-takers in domesticcricket. I will share my experience with the young spinners in thecountry, but for now I’m focusing all my attention on the Eagles. They,after all, pay my salary.”Boje clearly feels that he never had the support from those that matter.”They treated me poorly,” he says frankly, and another player quoted inthe article also spoke of poor channels of communication between theselection panel and the players. “You never know what is expected of youor what your role should be,” said the player, name withheld by request.”And you never know for sure that, despite a good performance, you willplay in the next match.”With the so-called quota system the source of considerable disquiet -Kevin Pietersen weighs in with a comment every other week, or so it seems- Boje fears that things will only get worse. “I feel sorry for [someonelike] Boeta Dippenaar,” he said. “It can happen that some players decideto play overseas once the World Cup squad is selected, and they’re not init. With this uncertainty about their places, I get the idea that someplayers only play for themselves. That’s not healthy for cricket in SouthAfrica.”

The young Zimbabwe cricketers, fresh from a seven-match ODI series against West Indies in which they ended at the wrong end of a 5-0 result, now turn their attention to a tri-nation series featuring associate ICC members Canada and Bermuda.Today, Zimbabwe will welcome a change of pace when they square off against Canada at the Queen’s Park Oval, two days after a 104-run defeat at the hands of the regional team.Given the fact they have shown flashes of brilliance over the past two weeks – albeit each time in losing causes – coupled with the fact that this will be Canada’s first outing at this level since 2003, the Zimbabweans should be the favourites in this encounter.They have shown their positivity in attacking the ball in the field and some of their batsmen have demonstrated intelligent capability. They also have good potential in the bowling department that can only flourish with experience.Canada have an older squad, including four of their players from the 2003 World Cup in South Africa – John Davison, their captain, Desmond Chumney, Ashish Bagai and Sanjayan Thuraisingam.Davison also holds the record for the fastest World Cup ton, against the West Indies in 2003 at Centurion, where he blazed 111, reaching his hundred off just 67 balls.The other team in the competition, Bermuda, coached by former West Indies batsman Gus Logie, will be without Clay Smith, their captain, who is still recovering from a long-term knee injury, and will be lead by Janeiro Tucker.The competition is part of the ICC programme to step up the level of play for the six ICC associate members ahead of next year’s World Cup in the West Indies. The other four – Ireland, Kenya, the Netherlands and Scotland, are expected to play at least 64 ODIs before March, (some have already been played), including fixtures against full member countries.Officiating over the series will be ICC Umpire of the Year, Australian Simon Taufel, along with Roger Dill, who will become the first associate and affiliate panel umpire to stand in an ODI.

Delhi Daredevils conceded 15 runs off the final over in their last-ball defeat to the Chennai Super Kings, but instead of faulting Shoaib Malik, the bowler, his captain Virender Sehwag blamed the defeat on the lack of a specialist spinner in the side.Sehwag said it was a choice between him and Malik for the final over. “I consulted my team-mates and they said either me or Malik should bowl [the last over]. I thought he would do a better job than me, so I gave it to him,” Sehwag said. “Such things happen in Twenty20, sometimes you are hit and sometimes you are not.” .Delhi had posted a formidable 187, but Sehwag felt they lost the plot in the end stages of the match. “187 is not a small score. [Gautam] Gambhir and [Shikhar] Dhawan batted superbly and then [Vijaykumar] Yo Mahesh and Pradeep Sangwan did their job while bowling. Everything was going to our plan till the 15th over [of Chennai’s innings]. At the end we lost at the last over.”If we had a specialist fifth bowler, we would have saved 30-40 runs, we missed a fifth bowler,” Sehwag said. Together he and Malik gave away 58 runs off their four overs, and Sehwag suggested a change for the next game. “We are including a specialist spinner in the next match.”That means legspinner Amit Mishra might get a game, as Daniel Vettori is away on New Zealand duty. Following the match, Delhi were fourth in the points table, but Sehwag wasn’t too perturbed. “We lost a match today but it happens in cricket we will bounce back,” he said. “Our top order was batting beautifully and bowlers bowled well, it so happened that we lost in the last over.”

Mark Ealham’s whirlwind hundred, scored off just 45 balls for Nottinghamshire against MCC in the season opener way back on April 16 at Lord’s, has won him the Walter Lawrence Trophy for 2006.Ealham smashed 11 fours and seven sixes in his century, which was scored in the traditional opening first-class fixture between Nottinghamshire, the champion county and MCC, making it the fastest-ever hundred from balls faced and non-contrived bowling, in history of the competition. Ealham, 37, who played in 8 Tests and 64 ODIs for his country, will be presented with the Walter Lawrence Trophy and a cheque for £5000 at a special lunch in the Long Room at Lord’s on November 2.Mark Pettini of Essex hit an unbelievably fast hundred off a mere 27 balls against Leicestershire on September 23, the final day of the Championship, but this was scored off joke bowling and is therefore considered invalid for the award. Pettini’s century included 11 fours and 10 sixes, but it was achieved from 9.4 overs of what the competition organizers described as “dross” from Leicestershire’s opening batsman, Darren Robinson, and wicketkeeper, Paul Nixon, to induce an early declaration.